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Winter 2010/2011 comprised a bitterly cold December, with copious amounts of snow, a January with more 'normal' weather and a very mild but rather cloudy February.
The UK winter mean temperature was 2.4ยฐC (1.3 degC below the 1971-2000 average). It was less cold than winter 2009/2010 (1.6ยฐC) but otherwise the coldest UK winter since 1985/1986. The seasonal mean was dominated by an exceptionally cold December -the coldest for over 100 years. In Northern Ireland this was the coldest calendar month in the series. Temperatures recovered towards normal in January and were well above in February, which was the mildest since 2002 and saw a marked absence of air frost.
Precipitation was below average during December (38%) and January (83%) but above in February (129%). There were widespread snowfalls in the first week of December and from mid-month until Christmas, with over 25cm accumulating in many areas. Provisionally, it was the third driest December in the 100-year series. In contrast, February was particularly wet in parts of northern England and southern Scotland, where it was one of the wettest Februarys in the series.
December and January were generally sunnier than normal, particularly towards the north and west; Northern Ireland and Scotland enjoyed their sunniest December on record. February was relatively dull in most places, especially again towards the south-east. Over Northern Ireland it was the sunniest winter in the series, in marked contrast to East Anglia and South East England where it was one of the dullest.
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